A Slam Dunk?

Dunkin’ Donuts (DD) recently announced the opening of its landmark 10,000^th restaurant, a location in Xi’An, China. Competing for the honor of being number 10,000 were three new restaurants in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as well as new stores in Bogota, Columbia, and Kingsland, GA.

As part of its strategic move out of its New England/Northeast home market, Dunkin’ Brands Group, parent of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, reported two new franchise agreements that will bring 11 new DD restaurants to Baton Rouge, LA, with the first two scheduled to open this year and the remainder by 2018.

Despite a large number of Dunkin’ Donuts stores in other southern states (FL, GA, the Carolinas, VA), the company has not made significant inroads into the Deep South. There are fewer than 10 DD restaurants each in AL and MS, and no current freestanding DD locations in LA (there is one co-branded Baskin-Robbins/Dunkin’ Donuts store in Metairie).

Information from Chain Store Guide’s business-solution provider Instant Demographics reveals that Louisiana’s population is slightly younger than the U.S. average. The data also show that the residents have a lower-than-average disposable household income and spend 12% less on snacks and non-alcoholic beverages than the typical U.S. resident.

However, the ChainStore Guide Database of Chain Restaurant Locations suggests that Louisiana is a market that is under-served in the snack food category. Somewhat surprisingly, even Southern-born Krispy Kreme is not well represented in the Pelican State, with only four restaurants serving its 4.5 million residents. Frozen treat providers such as Baskin-Robbins, Cold Stone Creamery, Haagen-Dazs, MaggieMoo’s, Marble Slab Creamery, and TCBY are all accounted for in this category, but aside from Krispy Kreme, the only baked treats available from the major chain restaurant operators are pretzels from Auntie Anne’s and cookies from Cookie Banquet and Mrs. Fields.

If you’re a property manager with available retail space in the Baton Rouge market, contact Chief Development Officer John Dawson at 781-737-3000 at the Dunkin’ Donuts headquarters office.

For more information about retailers and foodservice operators with expansion plans, contact Chain Store Guide to arrange a free demonstration of our Leading Chain Tenants database.